Dishwashers are the apparatuses configured to remove food scraps which remains on dishes or cooking tools (hereinafter, washing objects) using wash water.
A conventional dishwasher includes a tub defining a washing space, a rack provided in the tub and accommodating washing objects, an injection arm injecting washing water to the rack, a sump in which the washing water is stored, and a pump supplying the wash water stored in the sump to the injection arm.
Such a dishwasher may be configured to perform a washing course for washing off the food scraps which contains on washing objects; a rinsing course for rinsing the washing objects having been in the washing course; and a drying course for drying the moisture which contains on the washing objects having been in the rinsing course.
As one of such a dishwasher, Korean Patent No. 10-2011-004578 (hereinafter, the conventional dishwasher) discloses a dishwasher according to prior art to which the present disclosure pertains.
In the disclosed dishwasher, a circulation duct in communication with an internal washing space of a tub is provided outside the tub and a condensation partition wall is provided in the circulation and condensing the circulating humid air to perform a drying course.
After such a drying course, an outlet duct provided in a door may exhaust air outside.
As another example, the humid air may be directly exhausted through the outlet duct, without condensing the humid air through the circulation duct.
An air inlet hole for sucking air into the outlet duct is provided in a rear surface of the door and a hole cover is provided in the air inlet hole to selectively open and close the air inlet hole.
The hole cover is able to be horizontally moved by an actuator coupled to an inner surface of the door.
An inlet duct configured as a case type having the actuator and the hole cover is mounted between the air inlet hole and the outlet duct.
A fan is mounted in the inlet duct to blow air to the outlet duct.
The actuator moving the hole cover is horizontally mounted to the inlet duct.
However, the hole cover is open in the drying course and the vapor and air inside the tub is exhausted through the outlet duct in the conventional dishwasher. The conventional dishwasher has the disadvantage that water is collected right in the inlet hole of the inlet duct.
That is because water leaks into the gap between the inlet hole and the hole cover even when the hole cover closes the inlet during the hot vapor condensation or washing process.
Accordingly, the user has to connect a hose to the inlet duct and remove the water collected in the inlet duct.
Some food traps would be contained in the collected water and such the food traps contained in the collected water is likely not to be removed together with water but to remain in the inlet duct. Such the food traps and water might cause errors in the internal components of the inlet duct such as the actuator.